THE LAND OF NINE DOMAINS

China’s military recently disclosed a new photo of its longest-range mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a key element of Beijing’s large-scale strategic nuclear buildup.

The Chinese military frequently discloses such images online as part of efforts to highlight its nuclear forces, among the most secret elements of Beijing’s military forces.

According to the online posting by a user identified only as “witten,” the missile was described as the Second Artillery Corps’ Dong Feng-41 (DF-41) ICBM.

The bulletin board stated that the missile is considered China’s SS-27 ICBM, a reference to Russia’s road-mobile Topol-M missile.

According to the post, the lower ground profile allows the missile to “to move from tunnel to tunnel during the gap when satellites are out of range”—a reference to China’s 3,000 miles of underground nuclear tunnels and production facilities for nuclear forces.

The underground nuclear network was disclosed two years ago as part of a Georgetown University arms control project that labeled the system “the Great Underground Wall” of China’s nuclear facilities.

The new missile is considered a major step forward in China’s strategic nuclear arsenal. The missile is difficult to track because of its mobility. It also is assessed by U.S. intelligence agencies to be outfitted with up to 10 multiple, independently targetable reentry vehicles capable of reaching the United States.

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China’s recent test of a new ultra-high speed strike vehicle highlights growing concerns that Chinese military advances will overtake those of the United States in as few as five years, a senior Pentagon official told Congress Tuesday.

Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing that he is concerned by large-scale cuts in U.S. defense spending that are undermining efforts to maintain U.S. military superiority.

The U.S. is leading the largest multinational military exercise in the Asia-Pacific region, and Chinese media are hailing Beijing’s first-time participation in the annual drill as proof that the communist nation’s “regional military impact” cannot be ignored.

Nearly 14,000 troops from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries are participating in Cobra Gold 2014, which opened Tuesday at Camp Akatosarot, about 230 miles north of Bangkok.

 “Cobra Gold truly replicates the dynamic security environment we find ourselves in today, and what we will face in the future,” Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said at the opening ceremony for the military exercise.

Cobra Gold Exercises 2014

About 9,000 U.S. troops are training alongside 4,000 from Thailand, 80 from Singapore, 120 from Japan, 300 from South Korea, 160 from Indonesia and 120 from Malaysia.

Several other nations such as Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar are participating as observers in the 33rd annual drills.

China has “observer-plus” status, as it is offering a “humanitarian civic assistance team” of 17 troops, the Army said. Chinese troops will not be included in Cobra Gold’s top-level maneuvers, which include live-fire drills, jungle survival training, amphibious landings and warplane flights.

Still, Chinese media hailed and highlighted Beijing’s limited role in the military drills.

The newspaper China Daily reported that China’s inclusion “reflects Beijing’s growing military capability and impact on the region … [and] demonstrates Beijing’s warming military ties with Washington.”

China is making its first entrance into the U.S.-led exercises amid a yearlong military buildup, which is aimed in part to deter Pentagon action in the region, and territorial disputes with several of its neighbors, some of whom also are participating in Cobra maneuvers.